the great escape
by partlysunny
Summary: say goodbye, 'cause we got one more night/ Katie, Oliver, and one last night at Hogwarts.


**the great escape**

_#_

_we'll scream loud at the top of our lungs_

_and they'll think it's just 'cause we're young_

_we'll feel so alive_

_#_

They only had a few stolen hours until the dawn came and they were whisked away to the rest of their lives. Oliver was already halfway to shit-faced, and intoxicated in another way entirely by the prospect of finally being free, of being an _adult_, of the idea that as soon as the sun came up, he'd be out of Hogwarts for good. All the seventh years looked intoxicated by it, in fact, as the glow of the bonfire they were tossing their textbooks into out by the border of the Forbidden Forest illuminated the torn up robes and the ripped up jeans hanging off the bodies of the students-no-more. Oliver had already chucked his books into the fire and torn up his robes, as per the traditions of all graduating seventh years (he'd secretlybeen watching each graduating class from his dorm window ever since first year) and now sat against a tree, slowly swigging a bottle of firewhiskey some Ravenclaw had snuck into the castle from Hogsmeade last week. His watch told him it was almost two in the morning. They had a little over five hours left to be kids before they made their great escape, and this band of thieves was gonna steal every minute they could get edgewise.

Oliver was gonna steal all he could, right here against this tree, drinking himself into sweet oblivion.

"Oliver Wood," came a voice right above him. "I should've known you'd be doing something as boring as getting smashed on your graduation night."

Oliver squinted up. A figure was looming over him, its back to the bonfire, and he couldn't see the face that was cast in shadow but the voice was so familiar—

The figure stepped to the side and the light danced across her face: Katie.

He sat bolt upright. "Katie, you're not supposed to be here. Seventh years only."

"Relax," she said with a trilling laugh. She knelt before him, snatching the bottle out of his hand and taking a long swig. "I'm not here to gate crash, Oliver. I'm here to say goodbye."

He looked around at the celebrating graduates but none of them appeared to have noticed that there was an underclassman—a _fourth year_—in their midst.

Katie handed him the bottle back.

"What the hell are they doing?" she asked, turning to the bonfire.

"Burning stuff," he said. "Rite of passage. Everyone has to do it."

"Why?"

He shrugged, never having pondered why they had to do it. "I don't know. It's just something you do."

She nodded. Oliver watched as she watched the seventh years dancing around the fire, singing and passing around bottles of alcohol.

"What do you do after you've burned your shit?" she asked.

"You sure do ask a lot of questions, don't you?"

Katie chuckled, pointing a finger at him. "Hey! Where will you ever find me to pester you with questions after tonight?"

Oliver smiled. "Okay, okay. What do we do after we've—nothing. We just wait till morning, till the train comes and takes us away."

She blinked. "So let me get this straight: you're gonna spend your last night in school drinking and watching people burn shit?"

"That's about right."

She tsk-ed, taking the bottle out of his hand again but placing it on the ground this time. "I'm sorry, Mr. Wood, but I cannot allow you to waste your last night like this."

"It's not a waste if there's alcohol involved," he said, reaching for the bottle, but she slapped his hand away.

"Come with me, I'll show you how to really get a kick out of your last night," she said, jumping to her feet.

"Katie, come on—"

"Oliver," she said, her eyes twinkling. "Let's go."

Oliver looked longingly to the firewhiskey she had strategically placed out of his reach, then back up at the excited girl before him. Well. He still had five hours left to get drunk. And Katie was a fun girl, he'd been training her for years and she always was adventurous and wild. Maybe she was just what he needed to make the most of his last hours.

"Okay," he said, and he allowed her to pull him to his feet and lead him away from the bonfire.

#

"First stop is the Astronomy tower," she announced as she hooked her arm in his.

"And dare I ask what's up there?" he wondered aloud.

"You'll see," she said, and she gave him an enigmatic little smile that made him smile too.

They walked through the sleeping castle in careful silence, neither daring to say a word to alert Filch. Up the stairs they went, to the highest point in the castle, stopping for breaks which they spent lying flat on their backs on landings. After a good walk that did wonders killing Oliver's buzz, they reached the Astronomy tower at last and began the descent up.

"Close your eyes," she bade him, and as he surrendered to non-sight, he felt her small hand take his and heard a heavy door open, and then they were outside, the cool night air lifting his hair from his forehead.

"Okay, open."

He opened his eyes and found Katie standing before him, her head tilted upwards as she looked up. He followed her gaze—and held back an amazed gasp. The sky, velvety black and cloudless, was completely covered in stars that glinted innocently down at him like so much glitter. He'd never seen that many stars before.

"Pretty, isn't it?"

He tore his eyes from the sky and looked down at her. She was still looking up, her eyes wide, her lips parted.

"I live in London," she continued, "so I can never see the stars because of all the city lights. First time I ever saw the stars was right here. You see pictures and stuff, growing up, you know? And then you come here, and you see this…." She shook her head, looked at him, and grinned. "It's something else."

"That it is," he agreed, smiling. "But as pretty as this is, I think I was better off drinking by the fire."

She laughed. "Oh, Oliver, I didn't bring you here just to see the stars. I brought you here to scream."

His smile faltered. "Sorry?"

"You heard me. Scream. As loud as you can."

He waited for her to call the joke, but when she didn't, he said, "Katie, you can't be serious. We'll wake up the entire castle."

"No, we won't, we're too high up. No one'll hear us."

He just looked at her. She smiled and squeezed his hand (which he only just now realized was still clasped in her own) and whispered, "Come on, Oliver. Don't be so afraid. Take a risk, for God's sake."

He wanted to tell her that this risk taking of hers was exactly what always got her fouled in Quidditch but decided against it at the last moment. Slowly, he nodded.

She let go of his hand and took a few steps over to the railing, then threw her head back and screamed.

It was not a nice scream, but she didn't seem to mind. Her arms were spread wide, a vein in her neck was popping out, a breeze was blowing her long, dark hair back, and Oliver decided that she looked very pretty like that, very carefree and easy. She stopped suddenly and looked back at him, her cheeks flushed and her chest heaving.

"Your turn," she breathed.

Oh, what the hell. It was his last day. He might as well go crazy.

He shut his eyes, and let it go.

And it was the most freeing thing he had ever done.

#

"Next stop, the lake," she said once they had left the castle.

"What's there?" he asked.

She winked at him. "You sure do ask a lot of questions, don't you?"

Oliver laughed. She smiled, linking arms with him again, and they were off.

The lake was eerily still when they reached it. Oliver rarely came out this far onto the grounds, but when he did, the water was always moving, whether it be because of the wind or the children playing in it. Now, however, the water was perfectly stagnant.

"If you bend over the water, you can see yourself," said Katie, bending her knees, standing a whisper away from the water. A grin lit up her face. "It's so clear, like looking in a mirror."

He came to stand next to her and she grabbed his sleeve for balance as she leaned forward. Oliver copied her, surprised to see an almost perfect reflection in the black water. He stared for a while, entranced.

"I've always thought the lake held a dark glamour at night," she whispered, as though if she spoke any louder, she would disturb the utter stillness of the black water. "I mean, it's a reflection, you know? But you wouldn't stare at your reflection in the mirror like you stare at your reflection in the water."

He nodded, watching his reflection do the same.

"So, you brought me here to look at myself," he said.

She rolled her eyes, nudging him. "That's not the only thing I brought you here for," she said and, without any warning, she pushed him in the lake.

He broke through the surface and into cold, pitch black darkness. He flailed around with no sense of up or down until his mind cleared enough for him to kick with all his might until his head bobbed out of the water and he spat out a mouthful, blinking water out of his eyes.

Katie was cackling madly, standing just close enough to the edge that it didn't require much effort on his part to grab the edge of her robes and yank her into the water with him.

#

Sopping wet and holding onto their heavy robes because neither of them had had the sense to bring their wands with them, they went to the Quidditch pitch next.

"The Quidditch pitch?" he asked as they approached the entrance to the Gryffindor stands.

"Yep. And I'll bet you're gonna ask me why now."

"I think I'll just go with it, thanks."

Katie gave him a winning smile. "You're learning," she observed.

She led him to the front row, right in the middle of the field. He sat beside her, staring out at the hoops that he had spent the past six years guarding, practicing, and playing before. So much of his time at Hogwarts had been spent here on this pitch. And suddenly, he felt rather melancholy about leaving behind the place where he'd grown up.

Katie seemed to sense his mood shift and placed a hand on his shoulder. "This is where it all started, isn't it?"

He nodded, and they sat in a companionable silence as everything that had happened between his first step on and his last step off the field played in his mind's eye.

"Have you decided what you wanna do when you're outta here?"

He pulled himself out of his thinking and glanced at her. She was watching him, her chin in her hand, looking expectant.

"Quidditch," he said with a firm nod. "It's the only thing I'm really good at. I've never been too good at school and a desk job's never appealed to me."

"I don't see you behind a desk either," she agreed. "So you're gonna be famous, huh?"

He chuckled. "I bloody hope so."

"You'll be fine," she said, nudging his side.

After another brief silence, he asked, "So is this why you brought me here? To talk to me about my future?"

She gave him a knowing look."What happened to 'just go with it'?"

He shrugged.

She rolled her eyes. "Well, I didn't bring you here just to talk about your future. I wanted to give you h

And then, quite suddenly, she was kissing him. Her lips were smashed against him, warm, although they were both drenched in lake water, and she tasted sweet, like fruit or something. And just as he slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her close, she danced out of his reach and left the pitch without another word.

He thought about going after her, but she wouldn't have wanted that. She had brought him to the pitch to give him a parting gift and leave him to his future. She had brought him here to say goodbye.

#

Oliver ended up back under that tree with that same bottle of firewhiskey, and in no time at all, he was completely pissed.

And on the train the next day to the rest of his life, sunglasses keeping the harsh morning light from incurring the wrath of his hangover, he told himself that one day when they were older and wiser and above things like screaming at the top of the Astronomy tower or throwing each other into the lake, he would come back for that crazy Katie Bell, the girl who made his great escape something to remember.

_#_

_watch it burn_

_let it die_

'_cause we are finally free tonight_

_#_

**A/N: This fic was in response to the entry at the Prompts From the Mods thread over at the P R O M P T S, P R O M P T S, P R O M P T S forum, with the required prompts of: stolen, band of thieves, ripped up jeans, sunglasses, glamour, glitter, and "The Great Escape" by Boys Like Girls.**


End file.
